Oil companies may provide province financial help to twin Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray

Karen Kleiss, edmontonjournal.com05.07.2012

Participants pray for Highway 63 accident victims at a peaceful protest of about 500 people in Fort McMurray in support of twinning Highway 63.Greg Halinda
/ edmontonjournal.com

Bill Minhas holds a sign honoring his brother Ranjit, who died Nov. 14, 2011 in a head-on collision on Highway 63. Minhas was attending a peaceful protest in Fort McMurray in support of twinning Highway 63.Greg Halinda
/ edmontonjournal.com

Peaceful protesters carried messages for reckless drivers and political leaders at a gathering of about 500 people in Fort McMurray in support of twinning Highway 63.Greg Halinda
/ edmontonjournal.com

A stretch of Highway 63 just south of Fort McMurray. Seven people were killed April 27th in a head-on crash the road about 50 kilometres north of Wandering River.Ed Kaiser
/ edmontonjournal.com

Site of the fiery head-on crash on Highway 63 that killed seven people on Friday afternoon about 50 km north of Wandering River and about 160 km south of Fort McMurray, April 28, 2012.Ed Kaiser
/ edmontonjournal.com

Site of the fiery head-on crash on Highway 63 that killed seven people on Friday afternoon about 50 km north of Wandering River and about 160 km south of Fort McMurray, April 28, 2012.Ed Kaiser
/ edmontonjournal.com

Site of the fiery head-on crash on Highway 63 that killed seven people on Friday afternoon about 50 km north of Wandering River and about 160 km south of Fort McMurray, April 28, 2012.Ed Kaiser
/ edmontonjournal.com

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EDMONTON - Oilsands companies may be willing to help the province finance construction of Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray, an industry spokesman said Monday.

The financial assistance would be a loan and would only apply to construction between Fort McMurray and the work sites north of the city, not the busy stretch of highway the runs south to Edmonton.

Ken Chapman of the Oil Sands Developer’s Group said the industry association has asked to meet with the province to discuss the possibility of a partnership.

“We want to twin it the rest of the way up, where the new projects are going to be,” Chapman said. “We want to get it done faster, and (maybe) we can help in doing that, say, by paying for it and then recouping the cost.”

Chapman said discussions are just beginning, but options include the companies loaning the province money to build the highway, taking payment in reduced royalties or building a toll road.

Currently, more than 500 buses make about 2,000 trips to and from the sites each day, Chapman said.

The companies won’t offer the same arrangement for twinning Highway 63 south to Edmonton because the provincial and federal governments already pledged to do so in 2006.

“We are not suggesting we would take responsibility for building public highways, that’s the government’s responsibility,” Chapman said. “We’ve not given any consideration to taking over the responsibility of twinning south of Fort McMurray, because the province has already said they would.”

Instead, he said the oilsands companies will also urge the government to consider “more strategic applications of provincial money” on Highway 63 south to Edmonton, such as more passing lanes, more truck pullouts, better signage, and aerial law enforcement.

Transportation spokeswoman Donna Babchishin said the government has not received a meeting request from the group to discuss twinning Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray.

She said in an email that the province has in the past shared costs with industry but not in the ways the Oil Sands Developers Group is proposing.

“We are open to discussions with industry in the context of our provincial objectives and the increased priority on Highway 63 south of Fort McMurray,” Babchishin wrote.

Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray covers 65 kilometres. The province paid to twin 21.5 kilometres in 2000, from Fort McMurray to Suncor. In 2008, the province paid to twin 17 kilometres from Suncor to Mildred Lake.

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Oil companies may provide province financial help to twin Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray

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